The bar, aptly named Fragrances, encourages patrons to select their cocktails based on matching scents. Fragrances currently offers a selection 15 cocktails, each corresponding to a different perfume. Designer perfumes from the likes of Giorgio Armani and Yves Saint Laurent sit beside respective liquors so that patrons may smell before they taste. “At Fragrances, we want our guests not only to enjoy their drinks, but to experience them,” bar manager Arnd Heissen told The Drinks Business.

Cocktails are as elaborate as the setup. The Earl Grey and Cucumber, for example, consists of Earl Grey infused Don Julio Reposado, pink lady apple juice, jasmine tea and vanilla, honey and cucumber syrup. It was inspired by the Jo Malone fragrance. Heissen told Yahoo Food that there have been no sponsorhip deals between the perfume companies and the Ritz Berlin, and that the hotel does not sell any of the perfumes.

We're curious to see how Fragrances fares, since we've always followed the rule prohibiting scented candles on the dinner table. Perhaps we've been mistaken this whole time, though. For now, we're going to sit back and watch from a distance, because we're feeling all this perfume and cocktail talk right between the eyes, in a throbbing sort of way.

Typically we get headaches after we leave a bar -- like, the next morning when we wake up and need a Bloody Mary injection and an egg sandwich to the face. But before we even enter? We're not so sure we're ready for that. Would you go to a perfume-inspired cocktail bar? What perfume...er... cocktail would you choose?

The ultimate cocktail: The Martini
The most important cocktail for my money is the martini. It's certainly the most symbolic -- when you look at the cocktail glass it conjures up all of these images of the Rat Pack and James Bond. The glass alone says sophistication and it has become the universal symbol of cocktail culture. Even though the Manhattan is the drink that led to the martini, the martini stole its thunder in terms of popularity.
Related: The Great Mysteries Of The Martini, Solved

If you can only master one drink: The Daiquiri
The daiquiri is the gold standard of all sour cocktails. It's simple and clean -- just rum, fresh lime and a tiny bit of sugar to balance the lime. It's exquisite. The margarita is very similar to the daiquiri just with tequila instead of rum, Cointreau instead of sugar and the addition of salt, which is what I think made it very popular since it touches every bit of your palate.
Related: Sorrel Daiquiri Recipe
Photo via Flickr user kurmanstaff

Drinking history: The Old Fashioned
If you look at a drink like the Old Fashioned (named for its status as the earliest cocktail), it is really just sugar, bitters, ice and rye whiskey or bourbon. But if you look closer, you can see how bartenders have continued to use this formula in new versions of the drink. You can find variations like the Oaxaca old-fashioned (with mescal) or the elder fashioned (a version with gin and St. Germain) that my good friend Phil Ward invented.
Related: Rare Breed Old Fashioned Cocktail Recipe
Photo via Flickr user thebittenword.com

The definition of refreshing: Tom Collins
The Tom Collins is a long refreshing cocktail with a basic recipe that has led to many great drinks. It's basically a highball that's been made very, very well. Making a Tom Collins is almost like making a margarita or white lady. It's essentially a gin sour that's been lengthened with soda water to make it a tall, refreshing drink. So if you look at something like a Cuba Libre (coke, rum and lime), the Dark and Stormy (rum and ginger ale) or even the mojito (muddled mint, sugar, lime, rum and soda) you can see the Tom Collins' influence. A mojito is almost like a rum Tom Collins with mint.
Related: How To Make The 10-Second Mojito
Photo via Flickr user 3n

The only drink that's acceptable to drink in the morning: The Bloody Mary
The Bloody Mary is, of course, the drink that makes it OK to drink cocktails in the afternoon (or morning). It's also the cocktail that bars that don't specialize in cocktails often do well. You can go to your local dive bar and they may have their own version of the Bloody Mary. Pubs in England that don't serve any other cocktail (with the exception of Pimm's Cup) will serve them. It's absolutely everywhere.
I credit the Bloody Mary's success to the amount of flavor that is in it -- its almost like drinking gazpacho. It really is a meal. And like all of these influential drinks, there are many versions of it like the red snapper (with gin), the Bloody Maria (with tequila) and the Bloody Caesar (with Clamato juice).
Related: 7 Ways To Upgrade That Boring Bloody Mary
Photo via Flickr user hawleyjr

The definitive apéritif: The Negroni
I always refer to the Negroni as the Guinness of cocktails since most people don't like Guinness until they have had three. (After the third, their palate has adjusted.) It's similar with the Negroni. As the Italians know, there is truly nothing better to drink before you eat than a bitter cocktail like this one. The basic formula of equal parts gin, vermouth and Campari is a jumping off point for many other bitter drinks.
Related: Photo Gallery: 7 Creative Negroni Spins
Photo via Flickr user Geoff Peters 604

When a glass of Champagne just isn't enough: The Bellini
The Bellini is a beautiful, refreshing drink that is low in alcohol and is really closer to drinking wine. No spirits touch these drinks and, yet, they're still considered cocktails. The Champagne cocktail adds another dimension to a great glass of Champagne with the introduction of some bitters on top of a sugar cube that is dropped into the Champagne, suddenly turning it into a bitters and soda-style drink. Just much fancier.
Related: How To Order Champagne Like A Baller
Photo via Flickr user ChodHound